Thin Blog

Posts Tagged ‘losing weight’

I have a few questions for you. How would you describe yourself while looking in the mirror?  How do you feel about yourself?  How would you describe yourself to other people?  Have you made your weight you?  Have you forgotten your dreams and aspirations because you feel like you are too overweight to accomplish them?   When you look in the mirror do you see a person you would want to be best friends with?  Do you love the person you see?  Can you see past your double chin and the wrinkles around your eyes?  What color are your eyes and can you look yourself in the eyes? 

I am asking these questions because if it is difficult to love the person looking back in the mirror when we are overweight. How do we know we will love ourselves when we are thinner?   We need to love ourselves for who we are, from the inside first, and only then should we can work on controlling our weight.  Many people tend to try and fix the outside by trying every new fad diet or diet pill that comes on the market.  The truth of the matter is the problem isn’t on the outside of us, it is inside.  Dr. Sklare, an eDiets psychologist tells us that we cannot change our weight until we change our minds. 

I know that you want to eat healthy and be healthy, but there is a driving force on the inside of you that steers you in the opposite direction.  My husband Keith and I were talking one day and we both agreed that it is almost like there are two different people fighting inside of us.  One part of you wants to be exercising, eating healthy, and taking good care of your body and then there is another part of you that procrastinates, makes excuses, interferes and sabotages your best interests.  This internal argument goes on all the time within you and it is at the very heart that keeps you from weight control.  If you listen you can even hear the argument. 

So how do we fix this?  How can we make ourselves as one and become united in losing weight, begin an exercise routine and become healthy on the inside first before running to the next fad diet or the new diet pill.

Everyday is a day to make choices when it comes to losing weight and fitness. For most people getting out to do the cardiovascular exercise on a daily basis can be most of the battle. You may have a great weight loss morning and afternoon, in your food choices, and then blow the whole day that same night. All too often people get motivated to “get healthy” and start a program and get positive results for awhile but then wander into failure. If you are, or have been in this situation then you by no means alone.

All too often individuals get discouraged or distressed and then wander into a repetitive situation that breeds failure and then more discouragement. What is meant by this is that all too often a person is dieting to  lose weight and then one day has a candy bar. Up until that point there was an imaginary barrier and that candy bar was on the other side. After the candy bar is eaten there is a feeling of failure and dejection. If not “checked” this emotion will result in more candy bars and less exercise and then total abandonment of the weight loss / fitness goals. This is, more often than not, the continuation of a perceived cycle of dieting failures because this was just one of many attempts to lose weight that resulted in failure.

A simple cure for this is to skip the “diet” and change the lifestyle. What is meant by this is that if you just try to exercise for the fitness aspect, losing weight becomes part of the equation without the ups and downs of perceived diet failures. If you can start an exercise routine you will be able to “blow” your “diet” on a Friday night every now and then. This is because if you try to get your body healthy through exercise you will not only change your body but you will also change your thinking. If you get into a routine and stick with it for awhile you will actually enjoy performing the exercise.  After it becomes a habit (14 days) your mindset starts to change and eating right is less of an issue.  It is less of an issue because the focus of your attention isn’t to just lose weight, it is to become healthier.  This will begin to manifest itself in eating less bread sticks or not loading up the baked potato.  The choices you make to eat will not be limited to diet foods but will expand to any foods.  You will just learn, and desire, to to be smarter about your food choices because you want to be able to exercise better because you want to be healthy.  When you start to eat right you will be able to stray every once in awhile because ultimately you will be back at the gym on Monday.

By starting an exercise regiment before starting a “diet” you will allow your mind to adjust to the fact that you are doing good things to your body. After awhile the food choices will become easier to decide in the direction of being healthier.  By trying to be healthy you will not have to diet because you will make better choices in not only diet, but also in quality and quantity.